Risk: Factions
Risk: Factions is a downloadable video game for Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service (discontinued as of 2014),http://www.trueachievements.com/n17433/a-trio-of-delistings-hit-the-marketplace.htm PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network, and Windows computers through Steam. The game was announced on January 12, 2010 for Xbox 360,Announcement Release December 21, 2010 for PlayStation 3, and March 8, 2011 for Windows. It is based on Hasbro's popular board game, Risk. The game has both single player and online modes of play. The single player campaign is divided into 5 chapters. Each chapter unlocks one of the game's five factions. The gameplay in the single player campaign is similar to that of the 2008 Risk rule set. Players must complete three objectives and have control of their capital to win the game. Alternatively, a player may defeat all the opponents to win the game as well. The features added to RISK: Factions that do not appear in the 2008 rule set are overkills and terrain features. Overkills are awarded when players roll either two or three sixes. If a player rolls two sixes, he destroys twice as many units as he would normally. If a player rolls three sixes, he destroys all the opponent's units in the current battle. Some maps also have special terrain features like the volcano, which can erupt and kill most surrounding soldiers, or the temple, which allows a player who has captured it to convert another country of his choice and all units within it to his color. Factions *'Humans' - Leader: General William P. "Fatty" McGutterpants - A jingoist American general. He is always seen with his pet dog. *'Cats' - Leader: Generalissimo Meow - A Hispanic sounding cat dressed like Mao Zedong. Launches an attack on the Humans after a mortar is "accidentally" dropped on his country (courtesy of McGutterpants' dog) and McGutterpants refused to apologize. *'Robots' - Leader: Commandant SixFour - An untested automated defense system built by the Humans. Unfortunately, due to its obsolete graphics technology, it is incapable of distinguishing friend from foe and declares war on the rest of the factions. His name is a reference to the Commodore 64. *'Zombies' - Leader: Colonel Claus Von Stiffenberg (a.k.a. "Stiffy") - A hook and eyepatch-wearing zombie who declares war on the other factions after being attacked by the Humans. Like the rest of the faction, he was presumably either an ordinary human or a revived corpse, mutated by an experimental bioweapon launched by Commandant SixFour. His name is a reference to Claus von Stauffenberg. *'Yeti' - Leader: His Excellency Gary - A buddhist-like Yeti Monk with a jovial attitude like the Dalai Lama. Ironically, he declares war when General McGutterpants asks his help to bring peace with the other factions. Dice probabilities In the factions game type, it is possible for a player to gain the ability to use up to a fourth die when attacking and/or a third die when defending. This, along with the overkill and super-overkill features, makes the probabilities of winning battles different from the original Risk board game rules. Below is a table summarizing the dice probabilities for the factions game type:The probability table makes the following assumptions about the rules of Risk:Factions, which are not explicitly defined: :*If both attacker and defender roll an overkill or super-overkill, the defender's overkill overrides and is the only one that counts. :*When a defender is using 3 dice, they are capable of rolling a super-overkill. :*If the attacker rolls an overkill while the defender rolls one or more sixes, the attacker's overkill is cancelled out. Reception Risk: Factions received generally favourable reviews upon release, with a Metacritic average of 77%. Destructoid praised the developer for not just making a copy of the traditional board game with the console version. The reviewer said: "Clearly a lot of time was put into making sure Factions not only overflowed with personality, but was also able to capture the interest of new players. I can't recommend this game enough, especially at such an affordable price."http://www.destructoid.com/review-risk-factions-177870.phtml Destructoid 1UP.com said that "while the factions aspect could have been fleshed out a bit more, the title still stands as a solid update to the game and a worthwhile purchase for strategy fans."http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3180110&p=4 1UP.com Xbox Live Arcade Marketplace discontinuation As of 2014, RISK: Factions is no longer available for purchase on Xbox Live's Arcade Marketplace. Users, even if they already owned the game, had it remotely removed from their hard drives, rendering it impossible to play RISK: Factions on Xbox 360. Notes References External links * Official site * Stainless Games page on the game Category:2010 video games Category:Electronic Arts games Category:Multiplayer online games Category:Risk (game) Category:Video games based on board games Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom Category:Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Category:Xbox 360 games Category:Windows games Category:PlayStation Network games